Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill kneels on the sidelines during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Western Illinois in Minneapolis, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill didn’t make it to his office Sunday after suffering a seizure at halftime of Saturday’s 29-12 win over Western Illinois.

Early Sunday, defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, who assumed head coaching duties in Kill’s absence, said he thought Kill might show up at work Sunday afternoon.

“I told (Kill’s wife) Rebecca there was no sense in rushing in today,” Claeys said. “His brother and mom are here. He can spend some time with family.”

Kill, who has epilepsy, was carted off the field after medical personnel tended to him on the sideline Saturday. He was taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons before being allowed to rest at home.

“I stopped over by there last night,” Claeys said. “They (Kill and his family) ordered pizza and stayed in and watched TV. I didn’t hang around very long. I let him get his rest. It’s just like anything; the frustration part of it (is hard).”

Claeys is one of six of Kill’s staff members who have been with him for at least 12 years. He thought the coaches and players responded as well as they could have after learning of Kill’s seizure against Western Illinois.

“Nobody likes to see him go through it, but we all are comfortable with the situation and know that it can happen,” Claeys said. “We’ll continue to move the program forward. I believe that, and so will coach. Every place we’ve been, he’s given it his all. Not just for the university but for the whole state, we all want to see this place smile and be proud of the football program. That’s why we came here. As long as he can do that without it being a challenge to his health, we’re all in there with him.

“Right now, from what we know there’s no long-term effects. If (there were), we would be the first ones to tell anybody that he needs to do something else.”

Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover talked about his frustration with people who are saying Kill needs to quit coaching the Gophers because of his seizure disorder.

“I’m shaking over here because it’s so ignorant,” he said. “To think someone is going to say, he’s an embarrassment to the university or he brings shame upon the university for what he does. There are a lot of ignorant people out there. I would rank the ones doing that right up there. That’s not me as a football coach; that’s me as a person.”

BRIEFLY

Gophers athletics director Norwood Teague, who was not available for comment about Kill’s seizure on Saturday, will speak at a news conference Monday morning at TCF Bank Stadium.

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